FLORENCE TOWNSHIP - Officials with South Jersey Industries (SJI) and OPAL Fuels Inc. are working together to construct a renewable gas production facility at the Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex solid waste landfill in Florence Township.
The facility will have an annual design capacity of nearly 0.92 million MMBtus, a thermal unit for the measurement of natural gas. The Florence project is the second collaboration between the companies to develop, construct, own and operate RNG facilities.
The project will capture methane produced naturally from the decomposition of organic material from the landfill and transform it into RNG, a low-carbon, low-cost transportation fuel. It is expected that 6.5 million gas gallons equivalent (GGE) of RNG can be produced annually from the operation.
OPAL Fuels will distribute the RNG through its fueling station network to heavy-duty trucks to lower vehicle emissions while also cutting fuel costs for these fleets.
Once fully operational, it is expected the RNG produced from this operation will reduce methane emissions from the landfill and avoid the use of fossil fuels, As a result, more than 530,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) will be displaced per year.
Officials from both companies note this endeavor addresses the two most critical greenhouse gas issues causing climate change: methane and transportation emissions.
“SJI is proud to partner with OPAL Fuels on the construction of the Burlington Renewable Natural Gas Facility,” said Mike Renna, president and CEO of SJI. “We are energized to continue our journey towards advancing a sustainable energy landscape in New Jersey.”
“We are proud to work with SJI to develop the Burlington RNG facility, encouraging renewable energy production in New Jersey and supporting the state’s transition to a low carbon economy,” said Jonathan Maurer, co-CEO, OPAL Fuels. “Burlington is the latest addition to our growing number of RNG projects, a portfolio of assets underpinned by a proven solution to bring value to our landfill partners and fight climate change both at the source of emissions and in the transportation sector.”
In April, SJI and and partners Captona and RNG Energy Solutions broke ground on a $440 million renewable energy project on the site of the former American Cynamid-Warners plant in Tremley Point in Linden.
Once completed, the Linden Renewable Energy (LRE) project will become the nation's largest food waste-to-renewable natural gas facility, diverting 1,475 tons of waste daily from landfills while producing bio-fuel to heat homes and businesses served by Elizabethtown.
Landfills represent a third of human-made methane emissions in the United States.